


Declivity

by veilfireVisionary



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Determination
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-31 20:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6486916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veilfireVisionary/pseuds/veilfireVisionary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this version of Frisk's journey, Chara was awoken by the determination of the last human, leaving Frisk to deal with the aftermath. Flowey retains his ability to love and his awareness of his former life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Ahhhhhhhhoooooowwwwwwwwwccchh.” 

Whispers of a voice… fields of yellow… an earth-shattering headache. 

Frisk groaned again and opened their eyes, small hands clutching loose clumps of hair as they attempted to rub the aching pain out of their head. Golden flowers? Why was it so dark?

Oh ya. 

Frisk sat up with a jolt as they remembered the fall. Rapid movement proved to be a mistake, however, as the dull roar of a headache swelled into a stabbing sting. Frisk closed their eyes again and gave out a little yelp, waiting until the pain subsided to examine their damp fingers. Must have scraped their head on the way down, they surmised, wiping a bit of bright red blood off their eyebrow. They’d been through worse.

Frisk stood and reluctantly rubbed her hands on her jeans to clean them. Great, now their pants would be forever stained. They sighed. Oh well. Nothing to it but to start heading back. Frisk squinted into the light coming from above. If the length of the fall was any indication, they wouldn’t be getting back that way. Into the probably-not-terrifying inky black darkness then. 

An undeniable sense of reverence fell over Frisk as they stood before the large, amethyst doorway that was built suspiciously into the rocky walls of the cavern. They hesitated, nearly intimidated into going back to sit in the flower patch for a while. 

But wait, they thought, that would be dumb. They shook their head at the thought. Get ahold of yourself and let’s move already. 

So, with a deep breath, they passed through the doorway.

It got darker for a while, but then a soft light ahead gradually grew into a small room with a patch of vivid green at the center. Another flower, Frist thought, bemused. Who in the world was running around tending a garden in a cave? Was there even enough light in here? In their pondering, Frisk failed to notice the gentle movements of the plant until they were nearly upon it. The flower’s leaves were moving around in a listless manner, pulling out pieces of grass and then tossing it away absentmindedly. Frisk watched for a while, their brow pulled together in interest, before shrugging it off and starting down the path again. They kicked a rock. 

“WHO’S THERE?” The voice shrieked out of nowhere. Frisk, startled, jumped backwards and lost their balance, landing hard on the ground. With shock Frisk saw that the flower had turned towards them, its face a mask of terror and hollow, dead eyes. Lights flashed and Frisk felt their body being pelted with… something. The pain was new to them somehow, more… intimate then the usual cut or scrape. Frisk felt their body snap backwards from the force of the bombardment and crash against the wall. They instinctively curled into a ball, failing miserably to protect themselves. 

The painful force suddenly subsided. Frisk whimpered weakly, struggling to fight off the overwhelming dizziness pinning them to the ground. 

“Wait. Who… what are… human?” Frisk managed to catch a glimpse of the flower’s fearful, tear-stained face as everything faded to a crushing, blank white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Dear, Precious Reader
> 
> Please let me know how I'm doing if you would. This is my first shot at fanfiction and I will certainly value any feedback you would be willing to supply. 
> 
> Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Determination.

Chapter 2

“Ahhhhhhhhoooooowwwwwwwwwccchh.” 

Whispers of a voice… fields of yellow… an earth-shattering headache. 

Frisk groaned again and opened their eyes, small hands clutching loose clumps of hair as they attempted to rub the aching pain out of their head. Golden flowers? Why was it so dark?

Wait… 

Was this… a dream. What in the world? How was this happening again?

Their eye stung as a drop of blood dropped off Frisk’s brow, temporarily blinding them. They rubbed the eye and sat up, slowly this time. As they managed to stand, they wiped their bloody hand onto their jeans, newly staining them again. 

Frisk stood for a moment, dumbfounded. They looked over to the large, prominent purple doorway, and bit their lip. 

A hallucination. Probably. What other logical explanation could there be? After all, a flower with a face? Frisk winced at the memory, crossing their arms over their chest and shivering. No, that couldn’t have happened. Not if they were going to stay sane anyway. Plus, blood loss. Blood loss made people see things all the time. They had a nasty bump on the head to boot. Yep, all that crazy stuff wasn’t real. It just didn’t make sense. Frisk let out a nervous chuckle as they made their way to the doorway. They couldn’t help but stop and look up at it, however, as it was incredibly imposing even when they weren’t hallucinating. There was some kind of strange symbol on the top, and several gashes in the sides that almost looked like claw marks but were definitely just due to age. It’s not like there’s some giant, crazy monster stalking around in this cave I can’t escape, Frisk thought to themselves, then rushed through the entrance before they could really give that much thought. 

It was dark, like it had been befor… in the hallucination. Frisk’s hands began to tremble as they recalled the particularly vivid feelings of pain as those bizarre white pellet things had hit them again and again. Stop that, they ordered their shaky palms. It’s. Not. Real.  
Even so, they peaked carefully into the room with the patch of grass. They could see the light, the rocky walls, and… 

No flower. Nothing in the grass. Frisk let out an unnecessarily loud sigh of relief and stepped into the room. Well that was dumb, they told themselves, shaking their head and letting the knot in their stomach loosen a little. 

They were almost around the corner when they were cut off by a series of white pellets shooting right in front of their nose. Without thinking, Frisk leapt backwards against the wall. 

“Don’t hurt me!” they shouted, holding their arms protectively over their face and sinking slowly to the ground, eyes welling up with tears. Their breath caught in their throat. What was happening? 

The creature stared at them from under the cover of the grass, little white pellets forming a circle above the flower’s face, which donned a look of fearful suspicion. 

“You’re a human, aren’t you?” 

Frisk’s speech was caught behind a tight sob in their throat. They nodded mutely. 

“Do you want to attack me?” The flower asked, receiving a brisk head-shake no. The flower stood up a little higher, still wary. A few of the pellets vanished. 

“So what, you just wondered in here? On accident? And then saved?” They didn’t understand. Frisk’s bottom lip trembled. 

“You ever gonna speak kid?” 

They coughed twice, hiccupped once, and then cleared their throat. “I, um…” They coughed again. “I uh, fell from the mountain. I didn’t mean to come in here.” They hesitated. “I’m not sure what you meant by the last part.” 

“Really kid? You don’t even know that you’re doing it?” The last of the pellets disappeared and held one of its leaves to its face. “So you didn’t find it suspicious at all that you showed back up here after you died?” 

Frisk was startled into honesty. “I was actually pretending that didn’t happen.” 

“HA!” The flower snorted and then laughed bitterly. “So you show up, with the power to save, a soul obviously full of determination, and you’re weak enough to get killed by me.” He forced another laugh, but then his face fell; his eyes went blank and began to fill with tears. 

“Sorry kid, but there’s nothing I can do for you. Down here, it’s kill or be killed.” A tear finally escaped and rolled down to drip off the flower’s petals. “I can’t even protect myself. I’m so sorry.” 

Frisk stared for a moment, baffled and distraught. This little flower had probably actually killed them? Unless they were still dreaming or whatever. They stared at the slumped little flower in the middle of the room. So hopeless. 

So sad. 

Sure they had the good sense to know it was a bad idea, but there was some kind of instinctual pull that pulled them to their feet and over to the miserable little plant. 

“Hey now, it’ll be alright.” Frisk touched on of the flower’s petals and, very slowly, began stroking it like a small child’s hair. “It’s okay. We’re alright. What’s your name, Flower?” 

He looked up tearfully. “It’s Flowey.” 

Huh. Interesting. “Well it’s nice to meet you Flowey. My name is Frisk.” 

Flowey sniffed. Did he have a nose? “Frisk. That’s kind of a dumb name.” 

Frisk laughed good-naturedly. “Geez, I didn’t say anything about Flowey. I mean, you’re a flower. It’s not exactly original.” 

“Fair point.” Flowey pulled away and wiped his eyes with his leaves. “Look, Frisk. I’m sorry about… earlier. I’ve just been so scared for so long. But you can stay with me if you want. It’s not safe out there, especially for a human. If we stick together we can look out for each other. Maybe we can help each other that way.” 

“What’s not safe about it?” Frisk asked, settling into a cross-legged position on the grass. 

“Don’t you know anything about monsters? I assume you don’t want to… reset again.” Flowey squirmed uncomfortably. “When a monster hurts you, it’s different then just getting hurt normally. Monster attacks can hurt your soul.” 

“My soul? You mean like, that invisible thing in your body? That’s real?” 

Flowey looked at her flatly. “Yes. It’s real. Anyway, the monsters down here are angry and blood-thirsty. They’ll kill anyone, and they will especially kill you since you’re a human.” 

“Oh.” Frisk looked down and played with the blades of grass, running them through their fingers. “So I guess monsters really hate humans.” 

“That’s part of it, but actually they would be more interested in absorbing your soul for their own use. Human souls can make monsters really strong.” 

“So basically, the entire underside of this mountain is crawling with monsters that want to eat my eternal soul, which is a real thing.” Frisk drew their knees to their chest and let out a long exhale, remaining quiet for a few moments. “Well that all sounds terrifying.” 

“Agreed. Not to mention the power of saving. Which is great, but also you could just end up dying over and over and over again.” Flowey winced, his eyes tight. “We’re both better off staying put, even if there are some monsters that wonder this way. We can probably kill a few.” 

Frisk looked at Flowey’s crestfallen expression. He was obviously upset at the thought of fighting. They looked back at the cavern from which they had entered, and then forward, to where the path curved out of sight. The path ran under a cave ceiling speckled with soft blue lights. Frisk was filled with… 

They stood up. Abruptly. 

“I think I’m gonna keep going, actually.” 

“Why?” Flowey sighed. “There’s nothing out there for you. You’re not strong enough to do anything but die.” 

Frisk shrugged. “Maybe. But then, at least I know that’s the worst that can happen, I guess. Plus, I kinda feel like I have to?” They looked down, a mysterious light shining behind their eyes. “It’s hard to explain. I’m sorry Flowey. I can’t stay. I can’t tell you why, but I just can’t. I have to keep moving.” Their fists clenched together, shaking slightly. Flowey gave the human a long look, and then sighed. 

“Fine. I can see you’re determined. I was worried about that,” he added under his breath. “I should just let you run off and die a few times, until you give up. You won’t last a minute on your own.” Flowey examined Frisk for a moment, then surrendered. “So let’s go then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, dear Reader.
> 
> In case you are here and you missed my note on the last chapter, you should go back and read it, because it was a delightful note. 
> 
> However, it is also essentially a ruse to get people to leave comments, since this is my first fanfiction.  
> I'm sorry if you feel betrayed. I just didn't know what else to do beside beg openly and wish on a star.  
> I don't exactly have a lot of stars to choose from either. I live in a city, and it's just constantly smoggy, and there's like four of them, sometimes five... 
> 
> Anyway, a comment about the possible suck-ish nature of this scribble would be highly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you, dear Reader. Live your life to the fullest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Determination

Chapter 3  
“I was hoping you’d want to come.” Frisk smiled and crouched back down. “So, what now? Do I need to find a shovel or...” 

“No, I don’t need you to dig me out.” Flowey scoffed, clearly offended and possibly a little embarrassed. “Just gimme your hand for a second.” Frisk reached down and offered their hand to the little golden flower, fingers loosely outstretched. Flowey wrapped his leaves around their fingers like a small handshake, and then pulled himself up to climb their arm, wrapping his roots around their upper arm and down to their elbow, his head resting near their shoulder. 

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Frisk remarked, moving their arm around experimentally, “and such range of motion too.” 

“Well, I can’t hang off you forever, unless you want me to draw nutrients from you.” Flowey wiggled his roots for emphasis. “I still have to spend some time in the ground. But for now, ya. This’ll work. Now grab that stick.” Flowey indicated the proper stick with his little leaf and Frisk obliged, grabbing it and resting it over their free shoulder as they began moving forward. 

“Now we’re going to start running into some monsters,” Flowey explained. “The ones that are left here in the ruins are pretty aggressive, but not very strong. You should, uh, probably kill them. It will make you a little stronger, so you won’t die so much. You were determined enough to come back last time, but who knows how long that will last. We’re better off avoiding it if we can.” 

“Well, I guess. If you think so.” Frisk dragged the stick up the stairs behind them, tapping the edges of the hard, smooth stone. “But it seems like you mentioned me being pretty weak, right?” They ducked under another arch, Flowey’s head dropping along with Frisk’s. “So you think I have a shot? What are they, like goo monsters or something?” 

“No, the goo monsters probably won’t bother you. Also they’re actually slime monsters.” 

“I was kind of kidding about that.” They tried a door. “Stuck.” 

“It’s not stuck, it’s a puzzle. I thought they were all deactivated at this point.” Flowey sighed and then proceeded to guide Frisk through one of the most grueling and epic puzzles in all history. 

“So, just these four pressure plate things and the lever, right?” Frisk asked, heading towards the lever. 

“Ya, it’s a pretty easy one,” Flowey answered as the door slid open. “The rest of them should be deactivated. But from this point on we should be pretty sneaky. Hold on to that stick.” Frisk zipped their lips and stalked surreptitiously through the silent, desolate ruins, clutching the stick and receiving the occasional soothing squeeze from Flowey. They actually felt pretty chilled out after the first few minutes, what with the rooms being so empty and all. Everything was lit from some unidentifiable source, casting everything in a lavender hue. A few signs hung on the wall, worn from time into an unreadable collection of scratches. They passed a few derelict switches and some crumbling columns. From somewhere, Frisk could hear the sound of running water gently making its way to some underground lake. The air was cool and sweet on their exposed face, the breeze moving slowly through their hair and playing with Flowey’s petals. 

“Ribbit.” 

Frisk’s reverie was interrupted by a small body slamming into their chest. Their back hit the solid cave floor with a thud that knocked the air out of their lungs. They coughed and frantically scrambled to their feet. Obeying Flowey’s shouts to retrieve the stick, they raised it above their head and turned around. 

Then they froze. The creature before them was some kind of strange frog, watching them with wide, terrified eyes. It was visibly shaking, bracing itself for impact. Frisk’s hands loosened their grip on the upraised stick, letting it fall a little. 

A series of white pellets exploded at the little frog’s feet, forcing it to leap back a short distance and stare at Flowey with a fearful gaze. 

“Frisk! Focus! This is exactly what I was warning you about!” Flowey gave Frisk a little slap with one of his leaves. “This is an easy monster to defeat. You need to raise your LV if you want to make it through the Underground. You have to kill it.” 

Frisk bit their lip. “Flowey, it’s just scared. It didn’t even hurt me that much. I don’t want to kill it, much less bludgeon it to death with a heavy stick. Maybe we can just...” 

The frog threw its small body at Frisk with all the force it could muster. This time they were prepared enough to roll out of the way, avoiding the attack. 

“Man that frog can jump!” They exclaimed in surprise, panting a little and crouching. The frog tilted its head, becoming curious for a moment before returning to hostile terror. For some reason this triggered some kind of instinct for Frisk, and they went with it. 

“In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a frog jump quite that far!” Frisk said unnecessarily loudly, “It’s pretty impressive! I’m sure all the frogs I know would be jealous!” Was it their imagination, or did the frog’s face turn a darker shade of green? It looked at its feet for a moment in what seemed like embarrassment, and then began hopping excitedly around the room, jumping as far as it could. Frisk couldn’t help but giggle a little at its enthusiasm. Flowey just stared, caught between confusion and exasperation. 

Frisk gingerly put down the stick and held out a hand to the little frog, who approached without fear and plopped its front foot into a mucus-laden foot-to-hand shake. Ew. 

“Ribbit,” The frog said simply. It then gave a nod, turned, and hopped away. 

Frisk stood and wiped their hand off on their pants, over the blood stain. Oh these poor jeans. Flowey sighed, a combination of relief and distress on his face. 

“Frisk,” Flowey chose his words carefully. “That ended all right, but you know if you want to get through the Underground you’re going to have to kill some monsters, right? I know it’s… bad to kill. But there’ll be stronger monsters outside. You’ll never survive at this rate.” 

Frisk, sensing some kind of anxiety emanating off of Flowey’s small form, reached over and patted his petals. In response, Flowey’s grip loosened a little bit. They didn’t realize he had been holding on so tightly. 

“I just don’t know if I have it in me Flowey,” they said softly. “For now, let’s just hold onto it as a last resort, okay? It’s… probably pretty terrifying to die. I don’t really want to do that to anyone.” Frisk pulled absently on the sleeve of their sweater, pulling it over their knuckles. “We’ll just put if off as long as we can, okay? I can tell you don’t want to do it either. Thanks for helping me out, by the way. Those little pellets come in handy.” Flowey’s expression relaxed a little at that, and he smiled a bit. 

“Okay. Last resort it is.”


End file.
